Kewanee Walmart reopens after bomb threat

Wednesday

Nov 20, 2013 at 8:16 AM

Kewanee’s Walmart store opened late Tuesday evening after being closed for 4 1/2 hours while authorities investigated a bomb threat.Policer Chief Jim Dison said early Wednesday that at about 5:40 p.m. Tuesday police were notified by Walmart authorities of “an incident in which a male customer had made reference to a bomb after being told he could not return an article that contained multiple components without all the components present in the box.”Police responded and the subject was identified and taken into custody without incident, Dison said. The suspect, Nicholas A. Lane, 25, Kewanee, was remanded to the Henry County Jail on preliminary charges of disorderly conduct involving a bomb threat, a Class 3 felony.Formal charges will be determined after a review of the case by the Henry County state’s attorney, Dison said.As a precaution, the item the suspect had been carrying was not disturbed and the building was evacuated. A security perimeter was set up pending arrival of bomb squads from the Peoria and Springfield areas.Henry County Sheriff’s deputies and police had squad cars at the main entrance to the Walmart parking lot. Entrances on the north side of the lot were closed off with yellow crime scene tape.Two Kewanee Fire Department engines stood by while the bomb threat was investigated.After the item and area were cleared, the scene was declared safe and Walmart re-opened at 10:10 p.m.Dison said the Kewanee Police Department was also assisted by the FBI, Secretary of State Bomb unit and the Peoria bomb unit.

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